West Bromwich Albion (A), 2018 / Manchester City (H), 2016
Becky Taylor
In the wider football world, it’s 100% his over-the-shoulder left-footed volley at West Brom. That should be seen as one of the most iconic Premier League goals of all time, but it’s only really spoken about amongst Leicester fans. The way he doesn’t break stride, slotting it bottom corner with his weak foot, it’s an utterly ridiculous goal. Topped off by a celebration in Vardy corner at the Hawthorns.
A leftfield shout even within our fanbase is the hat-trick goal at home to Manchester City in December 2016. I remember being completely baffled at how he’d managed to squeeze it in from that angle. I’m not sure it’s ever come up in conversation when reminiscing about Vardy goals, which happens more than you’d think, so it’s definitely underrated.
Tottenham Hotspur (H), 2017
David Bevan
While the correct answer to this question is that goal at The Hawthorns, I’m going to give a nod to the first-time volleyed lob over Hugo Lloris.
The best thing about goals like these is that Vardy didn’t actually get that many chances, even at the height of our club’s success. It wasn’t like he knew he’d get another ten chances and could try things like this safe in the knowledge it didn’t matter that much. Every touch was crucial.
And this one really was sensational. As with the West Brom goal, judging the dropping ball over his shoulder without looking at the goalkeeper and putting it completely out of reach. Jamie Vardy’s Leicester City career would have been great regardless of how he scored his 199 (and hopefully 200+) goals but for the showreel to include numerous spectacular efforts like this makes it even better.
Bournemouth (H), 2019
Helen Thompson
The lob against Bournemouth at home on 31st August 2019.
It’s everything we love about a Vardy goal. A precise cross over the top from Ben Chilwell that the two defenders lurking near Vardy couldn’t do anything about and he just read it so well, leaving them left behind looking at one another. Aaron Ramsdale was foolishly off his line. There was only ever one outcome. The GOAT lobbed him from 25 yards out.
That it came just 12 minutes in too, against a team who knew Vardy’s threat, tried to plan for it and still found themselves unable to stop him. Goals like this disprove the naysayers who claimed he’d be a one season wonder.
The game itself was good but ultimately that early in a season it doesn’t mean much. Vardy was absolutely still at his peak though, scoring two and assisting the third. It makes it into the compilations but given all the other goals and so many significant ones, this feels underrated. I wish I’d celebrated this even more in hindsight.
Manchester City (A), 2020
Iain Wright
I’m going for the backheel against Manchester City in 2020. After the season we’ve had, it seems ridiculous to say that winning at the Etihad back in 2020 wasn’t actually that much of a shock. However, winning having scored 5 goals, Vardy with 3 of them (joining a very exclusive club of double hat-trick scorers against Pep Guardiola teams), really was a standout result.
Sandwiched between two penalties was a sublime backheel from a whipped Timothy Castagne cross, an incredible piece of skill that utterly flummoxed Ederson in the Manchester City goal. To have the confidence and ability to do that, especially against that incredible Manchester City team, really was something. The fact it wasn’t his first goal like that (see: Germany away for England in 2016) proves it wasn’t a fluke either. It’s just a shame it was in lockdown and not in front of a packed away end – that’s probably what makes it underrated.
Manchester United (H), 2021
James Knight
Not that one against Manchester United. And not that one either.
This is a first-time half-volley into the far corner in a game full of outrageous goals.
It’s noticeable that virtually all of these goals we’ve chosen are first-time efforts. The most underrated aspect of his game overall is how good an instinctive, first-time finisher he is. Any highlight reel has example after example of him running onto a through ball and scoring with his first touch.
This one though is more than that, because it’s also an example of how good he is at picking his moments.
Marcus Rashford had just equalised for Manchester United in the 82nd minute. 54 seconds later, Vardy found a pocket of space near the penalty spot. The pass from Ayoze Perez is awkward, bouncing up just in front of him. Yet he casually hammers it into the top corner to retake the lead.
The ability to change the narrative of a game is difficult to quantify, but Vardy is surely one of the greatest players in Premier League history by that alone. In pure technical skill this is a fantastic goal, yet it speaks to an innate ability to make things happen that is much greater than that.